


through the looking glass

by trickztr



Series: through the looking glass [1]
Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), First Dates, M/M, Post-Episode: s01e10 This World Inverted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 02:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6780904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trickztr/pseuds/trickztr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus doesn't have time to destroy the portal after Jace and Clary walk through it. Now his dimension is in danger.</p><p>Luckily for him, Alec Lightwood slipped him his number. Which, honestly, is the only reason Magnus calls him. Seriously.</p><p>Or: the longest, most interesting first date Alec has ever had in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	through the looking glass

**Author's Note:**

> To be perfectly honest, I've never read the books. All I know about these characters is based on the show, so please read this with that in mind. This is heavily show-based. =D  
> Hope you like it.

Magnus has been staring at his phone for exactly 53 seconds now. This is officially Stupid with a capital S.

He takes a deep breath, browses through his contact list and lets his thumb hover over ‘Alec Lightwood’. All he needs to do is lower his thumb and his device will do that magic thing where it connects to another human being’s phone and—

\--he puts his phone down again, frustrated.

“This is pathetic,” he mutters to himself. Runs a hand through his hair and reminds himself once again why he’s doing this. It’s for a greater good and has nothing to do with dating, so, really, it’s just downright _shameful_ that he’s this hesitant to call a guy up.

A tall, handsome guy, mind that.

 _Even so_ , he mentally tells himself, sternly. This is his own fault anyway, because if he had just closed the damn portal like he told Cute Blonde Guy and Clary From That Other Dimension, none of this would be happening. And boy, are things are happening.

It all started about two weeks ago. At first Magnus thought it was just his recently awaken magic that was playing with his senses, but it wasn’t long before he realized that that very distinct energy pull _wasn’t_ his body getting used to magic running free again. It was cosmic matter colliding against cosmic matter.

Hopefully it would be nothing. Perhaps just a very driven demon trying to shoulder its way into this dimension. Maybe. However, Magnus had to accept the very real possibility that much worse, much more dangerous things might want to take trip here.

And it’s his fault, through and through. Sure, he didn’t _open_ the portal between his world and every other dimension, but he did fail to seal it properly, and now they’re vulnerable. And even if It’s been several centuries since he lived in a world crawling with ill-intentioned demons, he vaguely remembers it being _unpleasant_.

He shudders at the memory.

Magnus grabs his phone and dials Alec Lightwood before he can change his mind again.

\--

Alec smiles when he glances at his caller ID.

“Well, I was wondering what horrible accident had kept you away from your phone,” he teases.

“Uhm…yes. About that. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner,” Bane apologizes awkwardly. “I was a little swamped with some very worrisome matters, and—“

“I’m just playing with you, Darling. I’m actually glad that you called. There’s this adorable little coffee shop that opened just last week, and I’ve been dying for good company to take me there.”

“Oh. I see. Uh—Actually, I was hoping we could meet at the Institute? There’s something I need to see there, and that’s really what I wanna talk to you about.”

Alec takes a sip of his bourbon. “The Institute is closed for repairs until next week. If you want a nerd-tour I’d be happy to take to my sister’s office eventually. But call me old-fashioned, I still think we should have a first date before you meet my family.”

The icebreaker works, as he hears a distinct chuckle through the other end of the line.

“That does sound reasonable,” Magnus says, a voice a little firmer, more casual now. “But the Institute is completely off-limits to _everyone_?”

“Tell you what: take me to the cute little coffee shop I told you about, let me charm the pants off you, and maybe I can be persuaded into pulling some strings.”

\--

The place is every bit as quirky and adorable as Alec had described it. Mostly rustic inside – lots furniture made out of recovered wood, he’d noticed – but the external space is what really makes the place worth the train ride: a low wall separates the shop from the streets and it’s topped by several different pots of beautiful and colorful flowers and plants. Small tables specifically designed to serve two to three people, at most, placed rather separate from one another. This gives customers all the privacy they may require – be it to just sit and enjoy a warm cup of coffee away from all the chattering and typing going on in the inside area, or (and Magnus is very aware of this second option) making first dates more intimate and less awkward. 

Not that there was any way to make this appointment any less awkward, not by any miracle. There’s no subtle way to break to someone that everything they ever knew about reality may or may not be wrong and yes, magic, vampires, angels and demons are all true.

The lattes are great, though.

Alec hasn’t interrupted him yet. Hasn’t got up and left or laughed, so Magnus counts his blessings here. So far it’s been mostly frowning, vague nodding and long sips of his fat-free-green-tea-mocha. When Magnus finally finishes, Alec is silent for a painfully long minute.

“That… is quite the story,” he eventually says.

“You’re telling me…,” Magnus mutters. “And while I’m thrilled to have my abilities back, I can’t begin to describe to you how leaving that portal in the Institute is bad.”

Alec nods. “But you’re telling me _you’re a wizard_. Like Harry Potter, or something. That’s just a little on that side of nuts.”

Magnus doesn’t glare at that, but it’s a close call. Instead, he looks around and as soon as he makes sure no one’s paying them any attention, snaps his fingers and very subtly flicks his wrist and a blue flame hovers above his palm. Alec gasps, a hand flying to cover his mouth.

“That. Is _amazing_.” He practically giggles. Magnus shakes his hand and the flame vanishes. “Insane, but amazing! So that means I’m a literal angel?”

Magnus makes a vague hand gesture. “Maybe? Probably not? Originally, the Nephlim, you know shadowhunters, were warriors with angel blood. That made them part-angel, part human. But it’s been quite a few generations since the last pure-bred Nephlim, so… who knows?”

“But that would explain so much,” Alec sounds reverent. “You wouldn’t believe the things my sister can do, and she can barely reach my chin.”

“Maybe she’s just naturally great,” Magnus says amiably. “But I really doubt any of you still have enough angelic blood to be shadowhunters. Which is why the portal being vulnerable worries me so much. Without any actual shadowhunters around, there’s no one protect humans from the demons attracted to this reality.”

“And destroying some drywall at the Institute will solve that problem? If so, I’m sure it’s being handled right at this moment.”

“Uhm…it’s not that simple. I need to be there, I need to read its energy status and, hopefully, destroy every shred of it.”

Alec raises an eyebrow, mouth curling upward. “Well, I do like a man with a plan.”

**\--**

It takes a few texts to his sisters and then a really long, really _boring_ call to some supervisor or whatever, but Alec gets limited access to the Institute’s basement.

“If anybody asks,” he instructs Magnus as they take the stairs down to the underground level. “You’re a consultant decorator and are doing Mr. Morgenstern a favor.”

“Uhm…sure.”

“Now, where did you say that thing was?”

“I don’t remember the exact location, but luckily it gives off a very particular energy signature, I just need to follow it.” Magnus says, frowning. He pauses for a second, head tilted, maybe to hear something? Oh, he’s caressing the wall now and his brow is furrowed even deeper. This warlock thing is weird, but also a little sexy. “Alright, this way. Something is probing at the portal, so its heat is much stronger than the last time I was here.”

 The spot Magnus tells them is somehow magical (magic! Alec still isn’t over it) is about thirty feet away. Oddly enough, even he can see it. Alec won’t lie, it’s a little disappointing. He was hoping this date would maintain a certain level of mystery and this would be one of those things like in the movie, where maybe only Magnus should be able to discern the border between their reality and the other one. Instead, he can clearly see a roundish patch of purple faint light pulsing on a wall.

“Seems closed to me,” he says, reaching out to graze his fingertips against the light. He’d expect it to burn him – Magnus did say something about ‘heat’ –, but he felt nothing. Almost like the portal was nothing but a trick of the light.

Magnus purses his lips and raises an eyebrow in what is supposed to convey annoyance, but just lands safely on ‘cute’ territory.

“I can assure you it definitely is _not_. Think of it this way: you leave your apartment but instead of locking your door, you close it behind you on your way out. This is sort of what I did that day. Anything could just barge in right now.”

“So…what, now? We can take down the wall?”

Magnus shakes his head, eyes darting around the room, almost embarrassed.

“It’s not that simple. Breaking the wall would just an empty space with a gaping hole for the portal. I need to magically seal and destroy it.”

“Oohh, so I get to see you in action,” Alec smirks. He takes a step back.

“Uhm…actually, and there’s no easy way to say this, but maybe it would be best if you weren’t here for this? I appreciate you bringing me here, but this could be potentially very dangerous and there’s no guarantee I’d be able to protect you from anything that came rushing through there.”

Alec sighs, annoyed.

“It’s adorable that you’re concerned, but believe me, Darling: there’s no other place I’d rather be than right here. Let’s just say that whatever nasty creature that potentially walk into our dimension isn’t going to be the worst thing I’ve had to endure to spend time with a hot guy before.”

It takes Magnus a split second, but he eventually chuckles, disarmed, at that. His shoulders sink, finally relaxing, and he shakes his head.

“Very well,” he says. Looks down, breathes out, “but I warn you I’m definitely not worth getting that jacket ripped for.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Now, am I getting my magic show or what?”

Magnus rolls his sleeves up. “Don’t expect much. I literally haven’t done this in two hundred and fifty years. And I’ve only done it once, so…”

“You don’t strike me as the type of guy who has performance issues.” Alec winks. Magnus blushes.

\--

Magnus can’t believe he’s actually blushing over an innuendo casually thrown in by a millennial. While he isn’t a wild Casanova, it isn’t like he’s a blushing virgin. This is ridiculous. Agreeing to bring Alec down here was a bad idea. He should’ve insisted on coming alone. Maybe he should insist on Alec leaving.

He watches as his stubborn suitor removes his lavender jacket and sits on a couple box not far from him. Alec’s smile isn’t just confidence and charm, it’s also… promise? Ah, the freshness of youth. Not to get poetic, but Magnus hasn’t seen a smile so enticing in at least a century and a half.

Alec is trouble and as soon as he’s done with his task, he’ll stay away. For real.

He takes a deep breath and compels energy from the universe into the palms of his hands. It’s been so long since he’s cast a spell similar to this and the words get a little jumbled in his brain.

“Something’s happening,” Alec comments, intrigued. He gets up from his privileged seat and approaches the wall. “It’s changing colors. Is that normal?”

“Alec, you should stay back.”

“No, I’m serious. Open your eyes, see for yours—“

Magnus opens his eyes, startled, just in time to watch a demon grab Alec’s arm and pull him into the portal.

“Alec, no!”

But it’s too late. Demon and Alec are deep into the cosmic canal. Magnus doesn’t even think, just jumps into the portal himself.

\--

Whatever this creature is, it's  _strong_. Its arms have an iron grip around Alec and no matter how he squirms or how hard he tries to wiggle out of that deathly embrace, he still can't move an inch. Breathing gets harder and harder.

The monster thing is, frankly, the worst-looking thing he's ever seen in his life (and yes, this does include Mark from his freshman year in college): its skin is greyish, like rocks, and just as thick. It has sharp teeth and sunken in eyes. To top it all off, the  _thing_  smells like rotten eggs left on the sidewalk on the hottest day of summer.

Because the situation wasn't bad enough, the monster opens its mouth, its jaw dislodging into four outward fangs and tries to bite him.

They both land hard on concrete. Alec rolls over his back, thankfully, a few feet away from his captor.

"Clary! You got this?" He hears his sister shout. It's the strangest thing, because it both sounds and  _doesn't_  sound like her at all. His brain is fuzzy, though, so he can't really pinpoint what the difference is. Alec hears the distinct sound of heels clicking hard and fast against the floor and suddenly she's there, touching his face, his ribs, his arms, asking a million questions he can't quite understand, even if she's speaking much slower and firmer than usual.

His sight is blurred, but he still looks up, desperate to see his little sister and tell her he's fine, he'll be alright, he just hurts all over but it's okay, except. Well, except this isn't his little sister at all. The woman above him has the right face, but it's covered in more makeup than Izzy has ever owned in her entire life. Her hair looks soft and perfect, so that's familiar, but it's not tied back as usual, no, it's flowing and framing her face perfectly. Also, that's a deep cleavage right there, right on his face, with a huge tattoo between her boobs. 

What the hell.

Alec finally realizes what the noise around him was, and it's definitely metal against something solid and a girl's grunts. He instinctively follows these sounds and, wow, okay, what a time for his sight to focus again. Clary, dressed in nothing black and leather, is brandishing a glowing sword at the monster who took him. Seems like she's winning, even if she did get some blows. When did Clary a) learn to take a punch and b) learned how to fight at all? Alec means to ask Izzy this, but his stomach is tying itself in knots and he feels like throwing up. His skin burns everywhere, he notices.

A final shout, a sword firmly stoked into the monster's chest and suddenly it's amber sparks everywhere.

“Clary!” Izzy shouts, urgently. “I think he’s hurt. We need to get him back to the Institute.”

Alec wants to ask, _the Institute? Why?_ , but blacks out before he gets a chance to do it.

\--

Magnus feels the exact second his mind incorporates his alternate self's body. Feels like riding a wave and crashing against rocks. He shakes himself to get rid of the feeling--

\--and spills drink all over the hardwood floor.

Oh.

Looking down at the mess he made, Magnus notices his royal-blue nails on fingers actually heavy from so many rings and jewelry in general. Then the gold patterned sleeves of an extravagant robe. 

Slightly worried - but definitely not panicking -, Magnus runs towards the first mirror he finds (doesn't take long, as it appears the spacious loft has several) and examines his alternate self. The whole assemble would be comical if it actually didn't look so good. And what is going on with his hair?!

But most importantly, he failed. Wherever he is at the moment, Alexander isn't here and is now probably facing the dangers of this reality alone.

\--

Alec blinks once, twice, three times. The room finally focuses. He’s laying down on a very comfortable bed, but the ambience is just generally classy, yet creepy. It’s dark, for the most part, and all of the baroque furniture sure adds to the gloomy mood. Impeccable décor, though.

Alec looks down at himself. He’s wearing a plain black t-shirt (that has a few holes in it, he notes) baggy grey sweatpants that look so ugly, he wonders if his alternate self isn’t somehow homeless. He tentatively touches his ribs to make sure they don’t hurt anymore. The area is still tender, but feels marginally better. Well, that’s good news at least.

Bad news is that his fingers trace several different patterns on his skin. Worst, they feel like _burned_ tissue. Just on that side of freaked out, Alec jumps out of the bed, removes his shirt and checks himself in the mirror.

Well, okay, his beautiful face is still intact. A tacky neck tattoo, but his lips have always been enough to divert attention to his face, maybe people don’t notice too much. Now that he’s examining the damage more closely, whatever he touched before also classifies as ‘tattoo’. Sorta. Like some old school, low budget, savage type of charred skin ink technique, or whatever. Not creepy at all. But nevermind that, because if this is what his body can look like, Alec thinks, then he’s going back to the gym as soon as he returns to his own dimension. Sure, all these horrid tattoos get in the way, but this is the first time since High School since he’s had a six-pack and he can’t stop roaming his hands down that torso.

Curious, he rummages through the old wardrobe. Not that what he’s wearing now isn’t comfortable, but it’s so ugly it’s actually distressing him. What he’s met with doesn’t do much to lift his spirits, though: it’s like reliving Jace’s embarrassing emo phase all over again. This will _not_ do.

**“What’s going on? Who are you?!”**

Alec stops short on his tracks, his hands flying up to cradle his temples as blind pain echoes in his brain. Sounds like his voice, but much deeper and feels like thunder.

 **“Leave!”** , the voice yells again.

 _“I can’t! I don’t even know_ how _got stuck here to begin with.”_ He thinks back and feels the thoughts crashing against his skull like a wave. The other voice disappears.

“Jesus,” he breathes out, still massaging his temples. A phone buzzes on the nightstand. The screen reads ‘Magnus’.

“Alec?” Magnus’ tentative voice.

“Depends. Is this the awkward cutie I met when he was trying to crash a party?”

“Oh, good! This is such a relief. So you’re okay?”

“Define ‘okay’. I have a killer headache, my skin burns like hell and this guy’s wardrobe is so depressing I wanna hang myself with one of his ugly sweaters.”

“Alec—“

“You know, if you can look _this_ good you have an obligation to do so.”

“Alec, focus. You said you’re in pain. When did it start?”

“Uh… I don’t know. I’d say…around the second I got here. Some gross monster tackled me and since then I feel like I’m burning all over.  And then there’s the headache. It started a couple of minutes ago. I heard myself yelling at me, or something, and now I wanna rip my own head off to make the pain go away. This has been such a fun trip.”

“And it’s about to get much worse. What you’re experiencing is the Alec of this dimension fighting for his body back. We’ll call it problem number three. Let’s deal with them on a priority list scale.”

“No, no, wait. What do you mean he’s fighting? What happens if I lose?”

There’s a distressingly long pause and then Magnus sighs and replies:

“We don’t have any anchors tying us to our own dimension. The risk is that we may end up being assimilated into their consciousness and, well, I don’t really understand the mechanics of this sort of thing, it _really_ has been a long time since I’ve dealt with this level of magic, but in so many words, it means we’ll be stuck in these bodies forever.”

“Yeah, no, that’s not gonna happen. I refuse to be locked in a reality where the most color my wardrobe sees is when it goes from dark gray to black. Let’s make this Problem Number One.”

“We need to do what we came in here to do first. As soon as we get it done, I can work on extracting ourselves from these bodies and back to our own reality.”

“Can’t you do that now? Do that thing you did earlier, with the skilled fingers and the blue flames…”

“I can’t. For the spell to work we both need to be at the same place at the same time. Where are you right now?”

“Uhm…a room. A really beautiful room with antique furniture.”

“That’s not very helpful. I think it would be best if we met at a common place, like the Institute. As discreetly as you can, get out and wait for me outside the building. I’ll find you.”

“The Institute!” Alec chimes in. “I heard Izzy saying something taking me there.”

“Ah. Well, that’s probably where you are, then.”

“No, I don’t think so. This looks nothing like the Institute. I would know, my sister pretty much _lives_ there.”

“You don’t look anything like yourself either, remember? And you’re not the only one…. Anyway, I’m portalling there. Stay where you are.”

\--

Magnus walks out of the portal and into the Institute. It looks nothing like he’d imagined it would. The place couldn’t give off a more sterile, surgical vibe if it tried. He aimed the portal to the most secluded area there, but landed somewhere near a training spot. People will wonder what the hell is a warlock doing here, maybe they’ll try to kill him? Magnus has some vague memories of brief encounters with real shadowhunters and none of them were very pleasant.

A breathtakingly gorgeous brunette approaches him. She’s quite possibly the most beautiful woman Magnus has ever seen in his life, but he manages to keep his cool. Just barely.

“Magnus!” She breathes out and wraps his arms around him. Weird. “Thank God, you’re here. You got my fire-message, right? I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

Magnus swallows, nervous.

“Uhm… hi.”

She frowns up at him.

“Are _you_ okay?”

Magnus nods frantically. “Uh-huh. Just… a little confused. Might be the jetlag, I just came back from…”, _think, you idiot, think! Oooh, I know_. “Fiji! From Fiji. There were some… rocks, _magical_ rocks, that I had to…collect.”

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Right. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here,” she takes him by the hand and they start walking. “At first I thought the demon had poisoned him, or something, but he has no visible marks on his body. I took some blood samples, maybe he ingested the venom somehow.”

“Right, yeah. Good thinking. Now, dear, I actually have a ton of work to do, official warlock stuff, you know how that is… So, uhm, how about you just send me those lab results and I’ll look at them as soon as I can?”

She stops on her tracks and turns to face him, her brow furrowed. “Are you serious? Magnus, I think Alec might be really hurt and you have more important things to do?”

Magnus feels his heart skip a beat. “Alec? What about him? What happened?”

“So you didn’t get the message?”

“No, I—I think it got lost, but what’s wrong with Alec?”

“Come on, I’m gonna need to show you. And, in any case, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”

\--

 **“Who are you?”** The voice asks again.

Alec bites his tongue to keep from shouting in pain. _“Can you not do that?! You’ll end up killing us both.”_

**“Who. Are you?”**

_“I guess you could say I’m you, but with much better taste.”_

**“What?”**

_“I don’t know the fancy terminology, or whatever, but I think we’re alternate versions of each other. I’m from another dimension, where you don’t look like a My Chemical Romance reject.”_ Alec takes a seat, because all this headache makes his knees weak. _“I got here by mistake and, believe me, am dying to get out just as much as you want me out.”_

**“Stop lying. This isn’t how dimensions work. Tell me who you really right now.”**

_“Wow, watch out, we’ve got a badass on our hands. Seriously, you need to stop being so loud or I’m gonna throw up on your bed.”_ Alec regrets that comment almost immediately, as he feels a much stronger, much more intense wave of pain strike his brain, as if his alternate self was shouldering full force against his skull. _“Stop doing that! I’m telling you the truth. My name is Alexander Gideon Lightwood, I’m an event planner from Brooklyn. You know, the Brooklyn from another dimension. I met this really cute guy at a party and turns out he’s a wizard, or something. He needs to shut down some portal, things go bad and well, here we are.”_

 **“I can feel my body decaying because you’re in it. You have to get now.”** The voice said, urgently.

_“Wow, are we dramatic. I don’t plan on staying any longer than I have to. This isn’t exactly been great for me either.”_

**“No, you don’t understand—“** Alec hears, but the new wave of pain and heat makes him even more nauseous and his legs don’t feel as strong as usual. Desperate, he orders, though with an authoritative tone he hasn’t heard himself use in a long time. If ever.

_“Okay, seriously, you have to STOP!”_

The voice goes away. His lower body strength too, and Alec collapses by the foot of his bed.

\--

“Alec, oh, my God!”

The sight before them is about ten times worse than whatever Magnus had imagined might’ve happened to Alec. Not only is he passed out on the floor, but every single one of his visible runes looked raw, as if freshly burned. Worst even, as if they were being burnt into him _now_.

Magnus watches as the woman rushes to Alec’s side, her stele in hand. She glides it over a rune on Alec’s arm and, very slowly, he wakes up.

“Izzy,” Alec murmurs, still groggy. A small smile plays on his lips.

“What happened?” She asks, worried.

“Worst bad trip ever,” he slurs. “Remember that time I took acid from that Danish guy in junior year? This is worse.” Magnus is horrified, Alec is actually grinning.

“What? What are you even talking about?”

“I-I should take over from here,” Magnus rushes in. “Maybe the poison has already affected his brain. I need to examine him.”

“Okay.”

Izzy steps back, but doesn’t go far. She’s crossing her arms as if holding herself. Magnus can’t help but feel bad for the girl, and feels like an actual jerk for putting any of them through this.

“Uhm…if you’ll excuse us, then.”

Her head snaps in his direction – she hadn’t tore her eyes away from Alec yet – and frowns.

“Excuse you to do what?”

“I’m afraid I’m gonna need some privacy now.”

“Since _when_?”

Magnus’ heart pounds in his chest. He needs to something _immediately_ , but fears that Izzy might freak out if she suddenly sees two versions of her own brother, and—

\--and that’s when it hits him: he doesn’t remember the exact spell to separate the bodies. Sure, he remembers the basics, there was this whole formula that’s a little complicated, but the structure of it all is kind of fuzzy in his brain. As matter of fact, he never actually cast it before, just remembers studying about it almost three hundred years ago.

Shit.

“Pain killers,” he tells her, urgently. “We need to sedate him.”

“Magnus, what’s going on? Since when do you even need drugs? Just fix him!”

“I can’t right now, okay? I need to figure something out, but in the meantime Alec is terrible pain. Do you have any thing that could soothe it?”

Izzy examines his face, and Magnus feels the weight of that stare. The urge to look away is strong, but he holds her gaze until she finally moves.

“I’ll be right back,” her tone is glacial.

Magnus waits until the quick clicking of her heels is long gone before he dashes towards Alec.

“I am so, so, _so_ sorry!” He says, hooking one of Alec’s arms over his shoulder. “Do you think you can climb to bed on your own?”

Alec smirks softly up at him.

“That eager to get me to bed, huh?”

Magnus sighs, impatient. “I’m serious.”

Alec nods. “Would love to, but my legs feel like jell-o.”

“Damn it,” Magnus mutters under his breath. “Okay, so…help out in any way you can.

 The plan was to carry him out of the bed, but alas, Alexander is much heavier than he looks. Magnus loses his balance and falls across Alec’s lap. _This is disaster_ , he thinks, and tries to sit up straight.

“It’s fine,” Alec mutters, but the silly smile is gone and he winces. Magnus snaps his fingers and tries a quick soothing spell. Alec’s face softens.

“Alec, are you feeling b—Oh.” Magnus looks up to find Clary standing by the door. “I’m—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to….interrupt?”

He feel his cheeks warming up, and wishes it were physically possible to delete a whole day out of his life.

“It’s not like that. Do you think you could help me? I need to get him on the bed.”

It’s complicated, and it’s not like Clary is much stronger than he is, but they eventually manage to get Alec on the bed.

“Do you need anything?” Clary asks, worried.

“Water. Water might be nice,” Alec replies, barely above a whisper.

“Okay, I’ll be right back. Magnus, do you need anything?”

“No, thank you, Biscuit, I just need to think a lot.” He says, watching Alec trying to get comfortable. Magnus feels, more than sees, when she touches his arm.

“He’s strong,” she tells him softly. “He’ll be fine.”

“Thank you.”

\--

“So we’re stuck here forever?” Alec aims for a calm tone, but is all too aware he misses by a mile. Takes a sip of the steaming cup Magnus pressed into his hand two minutes earlier.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You said you don’t know how to get me out of this body and that if I don’t let this guy take me over, he and I could both die. Sorry, kinda sounds like you said we’re stuck here.”

“I said I don’t know _yet_. There has to be something in this reality, a book, a YouTube tutorial, on how to do it.”

“You know, I actually feel it. I can feel the other Alec squirming in my brain, getting way too comfortable in there. Like, I literally caught myself thinking this morning, that I had to get up and fill up some reports on recent demon activity. Magnus, _recent demon activity_. How freaky is that?”

“I know, and I’m sorry. But I can’t do much about that right now, not without any actual guidelines. I mean, look at the mess we are right now! I screwed up on the portal magic and here we are.”

Alec’s goes suddenly very serious.

“The portal. Does that mean that it’s still open?”

Magnus nods, guilty. “And yes, anything could’ve gone through by now.”

“So my sister, my friends, _anyone_ could be dealing with the thing that dragged me here?”

“That’s… a possibility, yes, but it’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna get you better, I’ll remove you from this body and we’ll be back to our dimension in no time.”

“You know what really bugs me? Why isn’t it affecting you? Why aren’t you as sick as I am right now?”

Magnus shrugs. “Perks of being a downworlder, I guess?”

\--

Izzy examines the cell structure on her screen more thoroughly this time. It’s her third check. On her desk, an open file with scans and medical reports of Alec’s most recent check-up. There’s no mistaking it.

Alec’s Nephilim cell count has dropped at least 73% in eight days.

“What the hell…?”

\--

“You smell different,” is the first thing the vampire says to him.

“Excuse me?”

“No, like, I didn’t mean it in, like, a _rude_ way, I’m just saying you smell a little different now. Not, like, oohh, new expensive cologne different, just… different. You know?”

Magnus stares at him.

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

“Simon,” Clary says, soft, but serious.

Cute Blonde Guy, who’s much less cute and lot more intimidating in this reality - and also called _Jace_ , Magnus really needs to memorize their names – sounds less endeared. He glares at Simon, says, “Can we focus, please?”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Like I was saying,” Jace touches a spot on the digital map in front of him and the image zooms in. “Valentine was headed east when I was with him, and the army he had with him?” He exhales, his gaze lost. “Well, let’s just say that we’re screwed.”

He moves on to another screen, pinches out a picture and it enlarges. It’s a safe with a sophisticated rune in it. “I couldn’t get access to the actual Mortal Cup, Valentine’s far too smart to give me any opportunity to do it, but I know where he keeps it. He thinks I just went a soul searching trip, but it would be fairly easy to regain his trust.”

“Absolutely not,” Izzy immediately puts in. “Jace, you barely made it of out of there and now you want to go back?”

“Well, it’s not like we have a lot of other choice. He’s not stupid, he knows I’d come here. Honestly, I’m surprised the Institute isn’t crawling with forsakens right now.”

“There has to be another way,” Clary cries.

“There isn’t,” Jace says, gravely. “The way I see it, the only reason we’re still having this conversation is because he hopes I’ll talk you into coming with me.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen!” The vampire-- _Simon_   cuts in, fangs popping up.

“No one’s suggesting—“ Izzy begins, but Jace is louder.

“That’s not your call to make.”

“Like hell, it isn’t! Are you kidding me?”

“Boys, _stop.”_ Clary’s voice rings clear as a bell. The following silence even crackles in the air. “We can’t waste time thinking what Valentine _hopes_ will happen. We need to figure out what we’re actually going to do. Every second we argue about something as pointless as this,” Simon lowers his eyes at this. Jace looks away. “Is another second he has with the Mortal Cup.”

Magnus has a vague idea what the Mortal Cup is. Some shadowhunter relic, if memory doesn’t fail him, though he was never really clear on what that thing _could do_. Whatever it is, though, an entire building full of Nephilim are shitless scared, so every cell in Magnus’ body is screaming at him to leave this dimension right. Now.

“Is Alec feeling any better?” Jace asks him, directly.

Magnus freezes for a second. Why is he asking him? Do they somehow know it’s his fault that Alexander is ill? His mouth opens for a second, but he closes it immediately.

“Still in and out of it,” Izzy supplies, but she’s looking directly at Magnus. “I’m still waiting on some lab results, but I think it’s safe to say he’ll have to sit this one out.”

“But is it something magical? Like, did he get hexed or something? Why isn’t he healing?”

“If it’s magical, Magnus can help, right?” Simon asks, hopeful as a toddler. Magnus gulps.

“Yeah, Magnus, is it something you could help?” Izzy’s raised eyebrow could give actual lectures on Intimidation 101.

“Nothing… I can seem to detect at the moment, but I promise I’m looking into it. In fact, could I be excused to check on him now?”

Magnus swears he heard their necks actually snapping, they turned their heads to him so fast.

Jace chuckles bitterly. “Wow. Sarcasm? Really? By the Angel, Magnus, don’t you think we have enough to deal with right now?”

Magnus furrows his brow. Obviously he’s missing something. He hunches his shoulders, embarrassment weighting him down. “I’m sorry.” He says, quietly.

Clary frowns at him. She touches his arm tenderly. “It’s alright. We know what he means to you and, believe me, we wouldn’t keep you here unless this was important, but we could really use your expertise. The Institute needs your protection.”

“My protection?” He repeats, dumbly.

“ _Yes, Magnus_ ,” Jace snaps. “Right about now we need you to be the High Warlock for a second. Think you could do that?”

Magnus has a split second of sheer excitement as he marvels at the idea of being High Warlock of anywhere. His alternate self is doing _great_.

 **“Someone overstayed their welcome,”** his own voice remarks, sarcastic, and Magnus feels like his skull is about to explode.

“Magnus,” Clary’s voice is urgent, but low. “What’s wrong?”

“Terrible headache,” he grits out, still clutching his head. “It’s gone now.”

 **“Dream on,”** and there it is again, thunder striking down his brain. **“You’ve been walking around my beautiful body way too long now. Get out.”**

Magnus jumps out of his seat. “Okay! Uhm, protection, right? I should, uh—check the perimeter. Yes, I’m off to do that now, I’ll go check the perimeter and see what I can do!”

“Magnus—“ Simon tries to call for him, but he’s already left the room.

\--

Magnus takes a sharp turn somewhere and ends up in a mostly empty hall. He lets himself collapse on one of the walls, his hands grabbing his knees for support.

**“Did it hurt? I hope so, because being squashed inside my own mind hasn’t been exactly fun. When I get my body back, no punishment will be good enough for you.”**

_“Take it. All I want is to go back to my own body, my own dimension and destroy the portal between our worlds.”_ He uses all of the strength in him to get the message out, loud and clear.

**“Well, well, well, what a mess you made, then. You know I will consume you, right? This is my dimension and my body, I have the high ground.  If I can’t cast you out, I’ll just assimilate you.”**

_“We want out, I promise, I just don’t know how to do it.”_

**“Who’s ‘we’? There’s no ‘we’ in this scenario, it’s me versus you, how do you know not get it?”**

_“No. It’s me and a friend. He’s locked in someone else’s body too, and he’s sick. Believe me, all I want is to get us back.”_

**“If your friend is sick, then you can kiss him goodbye. See, this is why portalling can’t be done by amateurs.“**

Magnus can’t take the pain anymore. Instinctively, he pushes back. Hard.

The voice goes silent again. Magnus feels his shoulders relaxing. He takes a deep, calming breath and turns to go back and check up on Alec.

He nearly trips on Jace.

“Woah, you okay there?” If the situation were any different, Magnus might even find Jace’s sarcastic smirk amusing, but it isn’t and he doesn’t.

“Just peachy,” he says, dryly.

“Awesome. I assume you’re working on those protection spells?”

Ah…those. Those he remembers studying exhaustively and even practiced a lot of them when he was much, _much_ younger. Difference was that it was _practice_ ; no real threat was breathing down his neck and he has definitely _never_ tried on a building as big or as magically complex as the Institute. His heart rate spikes up so high, he even feels the breath get knocked out of him.

“Well?” Jace raises an eyebrow at him. “Magnus, time isn’t a luxury we have right now.”

“Yes, yes I know. I assure you I’m working on… all of that as we speak.”

“Okay, so this section is covered?”

“I—uh. I was about to get started on it when you walked in.” He stammers out.

“Then why were you walking away?”

“Was not,” he says lowly.

“Magnus, what the hell?! What is it with you today? Is this about Alec? Because we really need your help here, and so does he! If our barriers fail and we can’t protect each other…”

Magnus sighs, exhausted. “I’m trying, I promise. Believe me when I tell you that I’m doing my best around here.”

“Good. Because our heads need to be on this, a hundred percent,” Jace says, and despite still looking as young as ever, there’s a weight to his words, to the way his brow is furrowed, eyes almost pleading.  “The infirmary is literally ten yards from here, so all the time your magic can buy us will be welcomed.”

 _Oh, great_ , Magnus thinks, _no pressure_. “I’m on it.”Jace nods at him, but doesn’t move an inch. Clearly he’s staying to make sure Magnus actually does the job. Oh, boy.

Nervous and a little lightheaded, Magnus swings his arms in the circular motion he remembers from all those centuries ago. The words are fuzzier in his brain, but as soon as the purple flames spark on his palms, the stream of incantations just pours easily enough out of him. He splashes the energy-flames against the wall and quickly throws various protective symbols at it, making sure they stick. Not a perfect job, but good enough, all things considered.

“That’s it?” Jace asks, pointing at the wall that now shows no signs of magic activity whatsoever.

Magnus shrugs. “Pretty much.”

“And it’ll hold?”

“Only one way to find out…”

Jace scowls at him. Takes a step forward, and he passes him by, actually taps Magnus’ shoulder. “Keep up the good work.”

As soon as he’s sure that Jace’s steps can no longer be heard, he all but dashes out of the hallway. He needs to see how Alec is doing.

\--

Alec feels marginally better. His skin doesn’t hurt all over anymore, even if the runes still burn like hell. Something keeps squirming in his brain, it makes him nauseous, but Alec tries not to pay much attention to it. The defense lines aren’t strong enough, no matter how much help they have, and he must be prepared.

He eagerly punches the training bag in front of him and feels as languid and slow as a mundane. Maybe it’s his blurred vision, he tries to reason with himself, but years of training have taught him not to find excuses for bad performances. Alec rolls his shoulders, bounces in place for a few seconds, trying to find an acceptable rhythm for his foot work, and then throws another punch. The result isn’t much better.

\--

Magnus walks briskly in the direction he remembers he left Alexander when he passes by a training center and needs to take a double over.

Alexander, whom he distinctly remembers leaving on a bed, so sick and in so much pain he needed absolute rest… is feverishly punching a sand bag. It would’ve been quite the sight to behold if that weren’t frightening.

Magnus rushes to the mat where Alec has now moved on to a wooden pole spiked with several other sticks (meant to work as an opponent blocking moves, he assumes).

“What are you doing?” He hisses, trying, as discreetly as he can, to make sure no one is watching them. “You shouldn’t be out here. Look at you: pale as a sheet.”

Alec gives the pole a break. Takes large steps towards the bench, dries his face off and puts his shirt back on. “There’s too much going on, I couldn’t just lay there and wait. I’ll have plenty of time to rest when we’ve stopped Valentine.”

Magnus frowns. “Wait—“

“Has Jocelyn said anything yet? Any news from Idris?”

Magnus’ face goes slack for a second, realization dawning. He grabs Alec’s elbow, though not hard.

“Alexander, you need to focus. Think about your life back home.”

Alec shakes his head. “That’s _all_ I ever do. He’s already taken Jace once and I’m not about to let him take anything else.”

Magnus clenches his jaw, frustrated. “ _No_ , I’m talking about your actual home. Here,” he snaps his fingers and conjures up an image of the logo of the coffee shop Alec had taken them the day before. Alec just looks at him, confused. “Okay, better: think about your sister. How worried she must be that you haven’t checked in a while? Your company! I’m sure there are clients you were supposed to meet this week…?”

“Isabelle…” Alec murmurs, staring off at a point just behind Magnus’ shoulders.

“Yes! Exactly, your sister, who works for that tech company…? The one that changed the Internet forever?”

Alec shakes his head and he looks up again, Magnus breathes out, relieved. There’s recognition in his eyes.

“Other Me is one sneaky bitch,” Alec says, rubbing his temples. “I didn’t even feel it this time.”

Magnus nods. “Yeah, I’d say that’s our cue to leave.” He takes Alec’s arm and leads him back to his room. “You’re still sweating, and I have a really bad feeling it has nothing to do with the workout.”

Alec nods weakly. “I take it that it’s also not cold as hell here?”

Magnus takes his hand to Alec’s forehead to feel his temperature. “You’re burning up.” Shakes his head. “You back to your room and take a shower. I’m gonna go look for our portal and soon this will all be a really bad memory.”

“It’s not all bad,” Alec smiles sweetly.

“You have such a low bar,” Magnus chuckles, endearment written all over his face.

They’re only a few feet away from Alec’s room when they hear the rapid clicking of heels against the hardwood floor. It’s not long before Izzy doubles up a corner and meets them, a file brief in hands and glaring daggers at Magnus.

“You look terrible,” she says after quickly assessing Alec’s state, but it sounds more like a heavy accusation against Magnus than sisterly worry.

“Hey, that’s rude,” Alec shoots back, but there’s barely any bite to it. He’s shaking violently now and is mostly leaning at Magnus at this point.

“Just…a really bad day,” Magnus tries to wave it off. “Uhm, Alec, why don’t you go inside and take a cold shower? To…wash away the sweat from…all that training and working out you just did?”

Alec nods and steps in. “You’re not coming?”

Magnus’ heart pounds against his chest. He has no idea what Izzy thinks of that question, but it wouldn’t make a difference. Maybe. Either way, she seems angry with any way, so he tries to smile politely, says:

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Maybe you both should stay,” she says, sharply.

Magnus tries his best to convey all of the worry he feels through a simple look. “He really needs that shower. Seriously.”

She looks Alec up and down, who’s visibly only standing still because he’s leaning against the door frame, and nods curtly. “Ok. But I wanna talk to you later, it’s important.”

“Sure thing, sis. Love you,” he mumbles as he stumbles into his room.

Izzy’s eyes widen and she points a perfectly manicured nail in the direction Alec just left. “See? That! What’s up with that?”

Magnus rolls his eyes. “Oh, please. You’re telling me he’s never said he loves you?”

She glares. “He doesn’t call me _sis_. And he looks drunk! What have you done to him?”

Magnus swallows. Tries to sound dismissive, but fails. “I haven’t done anything, he’s probably just stressed out because of all this… Valentine business, I guess. He’s just coming down with something, maybe the flu.”

“I’m sure.” She sounds anything but convinced. Opens the file. “I’ve got some preliminary results on Alec’s blood tests.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I noticed something very odd. I couldn’t find what’s making him sick, but take a look at this,” she hands him the files.

Magnus skims through the pages and it’s not long before he spots what she meant.

“Yeah, exactly. So, do you have any idea how my brother has become _less_ angelic this week?”

“Blood travels with you,” he mutters under his breath.

“Excuse me?”

Magnus snaps his eyes back to her, a surge of confidence and urgency about him.

“I’ve gotta go,” he tells her, handing back the files, and heads for the door. Izzy grabs his arm.

“Magnus, what’s going on?”

His mouth opens and closes a few times, and he wonders, vaguely, why can’t he just tell the truth. These are Shadowhunters, they would believe him.

Shadowhunters. Who historically think lowly of downworlders. He’s a downworlder who has undeniably caused life threatening harm to a shadowhunter. This can’t end well for him.

 **“I’ll take over from here, sweetheart,”** the thunder roars again, and this time Magnus is more than willing to yield.

\--

Alec absently thinks about how much time might’ve passed in his reality, how many clients he might’ve lost so far, tries to think about nice, happy things, like the mornings with his sister and friends, but the pain the discomfort are way too overwhelming. He feels like he might go crazy from it.

 **“You’re too weak,”** the voice tells him. **“You’re not gonna make it like that. You’ll kill us both and I can’t let you do that.”**

Alec tunes out for a second, and when he comes back there’s a rigid set to his shoulders. He turns the shower off, dries himself as best he can, still as cold as he was before, limbs sore and still shaking violently. He puts on a pair of comfortable, warm sweatpants, a soft shirt and the thickest sweater he owns.

It’s not enough. Eventually he just gives in and grabs his estele. It’s a strange contraction of sensations, because as cold as he feels, his runes still burn him up painfully

He counts his breaths along, tries to focus on the rising and falling of his chest. As soon as he feels his heart rate calm a little, he lifts his shirt and sweater slightly and activates his healing rune.

It barely does anything.

“Darling, I—“, Magnus barges in, but stops on his tracks when he sees him. “Wow, even in this time of stress.”

Magnus sighs dramatically, clearly aiming for amusing, and Alec appreciates it, but he’s just about ready for all of this to stop.

“What is it?” Alec barely hears himself, his voice is so low.

Magnus finally drops the act and rushes to him.

“Darling, as much as I enjoy the sight, you shouldn’t do that. Your runes are eating you up.”

Alec nods, sitting on his bed. “I know. I can feel them draining me. It’s…stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.”

Magnus moves swiftly, graceful as ever and before Alec can understand what’s happening, grips his head with both hands, cat eyes making their appearance.

“Magnus, what—“

But Magnus silences him with a flick of his fingers, and murmurs words in Latin, voice hushed and intense.

Alec feels a _pull_. It doesn’t hurt as much as it startles him, as if his brain was being jump-started. Thoughts swim in his head and he can actually feel his other self clawing at the edges of his mind, but eventually everything settles. His eyes take a few seconds to adjust, but when they do, it’s hard to miss how Magnus’ face is less than five inches from his own. Still groggy and slightly disoriented, the only thing he can think of is how he wants to lean forward and kiss him. He does exactly that.

Magnus tilts his head back before their lips can touch, a soft smile on his face.

“I’m sorry Darling, but I’m afraid I’m already taken. Besides, I hardly think your little friend would like that very much.”

Alec frowns at him.  “Little fri—Wait. Are you…the Magnus I met at a party?”

Magnus closes his eyes, glittery black eyeshadow favoring the natural shape of his eyes, and smirks. “Normally I’d be happy to say something like, ‘you’ll have to be more specific, as I’ve been to several parties’, but I know who you mean. No, I’m not your anxiety-ridden friend from the other dimension.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Magnus waves a dismissive hand at him. “Your friend is safely stowed away in here,” he taps two of his fingers to his temples.”

“Then bring him back?”

“No can do. He’s taking some time off in the subconscious, since we need to save your life and all that. Now, this may hurt a little, but as incredible as that body is, it’s not strong enough to contain two Alexanders.”

Magnus then steps back, right in the middle of the room. He moves his arms in graceful circles and sudden flicks of his wrists, his fingers dancing. Energy clouds in blues, hot pink and purple bloom and circle the air around him. Alec has about three seconds to think how beautifully fierce he looks doing this before Magnus literally pushes those colors, forcefully, into Alec’s direction.

Now, _that_ hurts like hell. Like someone pushed him, hard, with both their hands and the touch pressed his sternum into his chest. He feels the air knocked out of him, feels his skin tearing apart and he wants to scream in pain, but no sound comes out.

It’s over before he even knows it. His head throbbing horribly, skin tingling and gasping for air on the bed. Tired, he turns his head to make a light joke about how this hasn’t been the most enjoyable trip he’s ever taken, is startled to see himself staring back at him.

“What’s going on here?” His other self asks, sternly, in a voice much deeper than he thought was possible. Is that what he sounds like to other people? All gruff and manly?

“Dimension portalling gone wrong,” Magnus explains, the ghost of a confident smile on his face. “Happens all the time. I remember this one incident in the Middle Ages, when a friend of mine tried to portal to her flat in London, but ended up in an alternate reality where the Inquisition was interrogating her. Would’ve been tragic, but luckily she made it out.”

His other self gets up from the bed, a dark expression on his face, and opens his wardrobe. Pulls out a black shirt and a pair of Really Old jeans, throws them at Alec.

“Here. I think they’ll fit?” The sarcasm is hard to miss.

“I think I’m good,” Alec shoots back, as sweetly as he can.

“You can’t walk around wearing that.”

Alec looks down at his lavender shirt and jeans. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“People will notice. You’ll stand out.”

“Well, a simple solution would be to send me back, then.”

Magnus cuts in, index finger raised. “Not that simple, actually. While I am _more than thrilled_ to help you get back to where you belong, this isn’t how this works. It’s one thing to remove a soul from a foreign body, but your Magnus and me are basically the same—except that not at all, but I digress. Point being: I can’t extract him from myself as I did with you, it would be too dangerous. We need to find your portal and he’ll walk through it, back to your dimension and into his own body. A happy ending for everyone.”

The Other Alec crosses his arms over his chest. “Sounds simple enough, why not send them away now?”

“I’d love to, honestly, but I have no clue where their portal is. This isn’t exactly like taking a quick trip to Indonesia, you see? They need to walk through their _specific_ portal, or this just won’t work at all.”

“Okay, so you can track it, right? Warlock tracking is strong, you said that before.” The Other Alec says.

“But I’d need something from that dimension to track it _with_.” Magnus turns to him. “You haven’t brought anything from home with you, have you?”

Alec shakes his head.

“Oh, well, back to square one.” He paces around the room, shoulders wiggling slightly. “At least the worst is behind us, as neither of you are at any immediate risk of dying. We can worry about this portal later and focus on some more pressing matters.”  

“No, but you don’t understand, we need to go back. Something about a portal he needs to destroy and monsters terrorizing our world, stuff like that.” Alec gets up, just on that side of desperate, and his Other Self takes an intimidating step between him and Magnus.

“And you’ll be dealing with that nasty business soon enough, I give you my word,” Magnus says solemnly, his right hand raised to appease The Other Alec.  “But I need to protect my own right now. You understand that, right?”

“Magnus,” the other Alec calls him in a calm voice, nodding towards a corner of the room. Magnus follows, moving gracefully and with a swagger to his steps that Alec could have never imagined in the version of Magnus that he knew. The difference was rather stark, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“I don’t like the idea of these two hanging around here,” his alternate self hushes, but not low enough and while Alec feels like he should be offended at that remark, he really likes where this conversation is going. “Maybe we should just them off and put this whole thing behind us already.”

Magnus purses his lips into a thin line. “Don’t we have bigger problems now?”

“And Valentine will still be a problem when we get back.”

“Alec—“

“Look, all I’m saying is that I’m not comfortable with that person living inside your head. I know how much that sucks, so don’t try to tell me it doesn’t feel horrible.”

Magnus tilts his head, raises an eyebrow. “You underestimate me, Alexander. I’ve endured _much_ worse before.”

As the conversation progresses, his other self seems to be less and less concerned about keeping his voice down and his shoulders are so tense they’re practically touching his ears.

“So what? Doesn’t mean you need to endure this right now. Every second he’s in there is another chance he has to take over your brain. Besides, if that guy’s telling the truth, there’s an entire dimension of mundanes completely vulnerable to demons and there are no shadowhunters there to protect them. An entire timeline could be annihilated while we argue about this.”

“Well, aren’t you dramatic,” Magnus scoffs. “I hardly think it’s been long enough for any real threats to found their way there.”

Alec feels like maybe he should jump into their conversation, argue that I the demon who pulled him into his dimension has any friends, then his family and friends are definitely in grave danger, but when he opens his mouth to explain that, his other self beats him to it.

“ _They’re mundanes_. Anything is a real threat to them.” Alec pinches the bridge of his nose. “Four hours. That’s it. We’ll look for this portal, I mean, how hard can it be? Four hours and if we can’t find it, then we’ll have done our part and he’ll just have to wait.”

Magnus sighs dramatically, shoulders shimming. “Fine,” and he sounds extremely put upon. “But under one condition: you’ll stay right here, at the Institute. This other Magnus did a semi-decent job on the protection spells, but I think the Institute could use its acting leader right now. Especially since everyone thinks you’re deadly sick. Let _me_ handle this.”

“This might be faster if I help.” The Other Alec argues.

“Nah-uh. You stay put. I’ll send them home… if I ever find their portal.”

“The portal that brought us here was at our version of the Institute,” Alec cuts in, finally getting up from the bed. “If it works like a door, then maybe the other one is somewhere around here?”

“No,” the Other Magnus replies, pensive. “This isn’t how portals work. They’re more like cracks in time and space and can be very unpredictable. Not even warlocks know where those little buggers hide sometimes.”

“But Seelies might,” the Other Alec chimes in, a satisfied smile spreading over his lips. “When Jace and Clary went looking for Valentine and ended up in that other dimension, Izzy told me that it’d been Meliorn who took them there. We can ask him to tell us where it is.”

“After that nasty business with the interrogation and the near-certain execution, I don’t think Meliorn will be taking your calls, darling.” Magnus says, sarcastically.

“No, but he might talk to my sister.”

“I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about them.”

“She probably already does. Isabelle isn’t stupid, she figured out the thing about the blood. We could ask her.”

\--

Izzy looks from one version of her brother to the other. Raises her perfectly lined eyebrow and finally says:“Lavender looks good on you.”

“Thank you,” one of the Alecs says, the other rolls his eyes.

“Izzy, please, be serious.”

“I am. Colors look good on you. I’m taking you shopping when this is all over!”

“Can’t say I disagree with that…” Magnus comments, mouth crooking on one side.

Alec crosses his arms over his chest, glares at Magnus, who raises his hands up in a peace gesture.

“What? I’m just saying,” Magnus argues. “When you’re off-duty, there are other colors. I could easily show you a discreet enough palette—“

“Guys, _not the time_.”

The intruder who looks so much like him just smiles charmingly at them.

“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on, by the way?” Izzy accuses, sharp as a knife.

“I think the situation allows for ‘we weren’t ourselves’, don’t you?” Magnus replies, smoothly.

“Okay, I’ll accept that for now. As for Meliorn, I’m definitely gonna try, but we haven’t exactly kept in touch. And with Valentine back, as we well know, most downworlders are holed up and won’t get out for anything.”

“Send him a fire message. Tell him that he decides to help us, the High Warlock of Brooklyn is interested in offering an alliance.”

“Magnus, this a pretty big bluff. He’ll never fall for that,” Alec says, concerned.

“Oh, it’s no bluff. These are some dark times we’re facing. Valentine hates all downworlders and wants us all dead. Been there, lived that, didn’t care for it. If he wants to lump us all on the same category and wipe us all off the map, then maybe we should _all_ band together and show him exactly how insignificant he is.”

Izzy nods, a pleased smile ghosting over her lips. “Now _that_ might get his attention.”

\--

“This should take you safely back to your own timeline,” the handsome pointy-eared man tells them. His voice is soothing, calm, feels like velvet.

“Thank you so very much.” Alec smiles up at him.

“Yes, yes, thank you, Meliorn. And look, Alec, with an hour to spare!” Magnus makes a show of checking his phone and showing it to the group at large. “Hopefully Valentine hasn’t kidnapped anyone in the meantime.”

“Magnus Bane,” Meliorn grabs Magnus’ arm. Alec watches as his alternate self steps in, a swift hand reaching for an invisible quiver on one second and pointing _an actual arrow_ at Meliorn at the next. Meliorn raises a hand at Alec, unfazed, and continues. “I will hold you to your promise. One favor for another.”

“It’s alright, Alexander,” Magnus says, smoothly, but assertively removing his arm from Meliorn’s grip. “It’s quite alright. As for you, Meliorn, no one understand the price of a service provided like I do. Trust me, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure warlocks consider an alliance with the Seelie.” He graces their little group with a charming smirk. “The more, the merrier, I always say.”

Izzy’s necklace starts pulsing red then.

“Guys, we should get a move on, here,” she rushes them. Pulls out one of those glowing swords of theirs and stands in a defensive stance. Alec will never get used to his petite little sister looking this dangerous.

“Well, I guess I should thank you all,” Alec says, flashing them as sweet a smile as he can. His other self doesn’t smile back – in fact, he seems to be glowering – but stands out a hand, which Alec gladly shakes. Isabelle nods at him, still holding the sword at any possible attackers.

“It’s been lovely to meet you, Colorful Alec,” Magnus smirks at him. “I would’ve liked you better if your presence hadn’t almost killed someone so dear to me, but won’t that be a great a story to tell.”

Alec catches himself smiling. Steps closer (and doesn’t miss the way his other self seems to straight his back at that, steps in closer as well, protective) and holds his hand out. Magnus slides his palm into Alec’s, easy, with so much familiarity. Alec says, “Thank you for saving my life.”

“Ah, it’s no problem, really. Now, I suppose you’d like your friend back?”

“Yes, please, if you can.”

Magnus closes his eyes, takes a few deep breathes and when he opens his eyes, his shoulders almost instantly draw closer together and he seems somehow smaller. His eyes don’t seem to be glinting anymore, but search his surroundings carefully, like a caught animal would.

Alec feels a wave of warm relief wash over him. He takes Magnus’ hand, leading him towards the open portal.

“This has officially been the worst date I’ve ever been in,” he jokes, lightly. “You owe a new one, seriously.”

Magnus chuckles, following him. “But this one will be a tough one to beat. How many guys can say they’ve taken you to another dimension?”

“Some have tried.”

Magnus fondly shakes his head.

Just before they step into the portal, Alec hesitates. “Do you think demons have taken over by now?”

Magnus tries to keep his voice calm as he replies, “There’s a good chance, yes. But I’ll do whatever I can to make sure they’re sent back where they belong.” He rubs his thumb over Alec’s hand, soothingly. “I’ve got this.”

**Author's Note:**

> A huge THANK YOU to Isa, for being so supportive and putting up with me emailing her every freaking paragraph i wrote for this. 
> 
> if any of you'd like that, come say (or talk headcanons) on [tumblr](http://trickztr.tumblr.com/)


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